Caddie Drops Suit Against Golfer

Case Involved Paternity Rights

The former caddie of Jupiter resident and LPGA player Jackie Gallagher-Smith has voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit accusing her of seducing him so that she could get pregnant.

Gary Robinson, 27, said that he dropped the case once he learned that he would never be able to see the child he believes is his son. The child was born to Smith and her husband, Edward Smith, in March 2004. Instead of taking legal action, Robinson said, he plans to focus his efforts on advocating fathers' legal rights.

Under Florida law, a child born to an intact marriage is deemed to be the legal and natural child of the husband, and the biological father has no right to intervene or compel paternity testing, according to attorney Cathy Lively, who represents Robinson.

Gallagher-Smith, her husband and their attorneys, Edwin Belz of Chicago and James Ryan of North Palm Beach, could not be reached for comment, despite attempts by telephone. In the defense's motion to dismiss, Ryan wrote that Robinson purports to have agreed to have unprotected sex with a married woman and therefore must accept the natural consequences of his alleged conduct -- a baby.

"They know for a fact it was not about money," said Robinson, who lives in San Diego and is working as a salesman for a solar company while working on his professional golf game. "They were refusing to give me DNA so I had no other choice. I feel I have a right to be a part of my child's life. It's not an issue of money for me, otherwise I would still be pursuing it."

Robinson met Gallagher-Smith while working as a caddie at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Jupiter in January 2004, according to his lawsuit. Gallagher-Smith began coming on to him almost immediately, the suit alleged, and the two had sex in May 2004 while Robinson was caddying for her at the Michelob Ultra Tournament in Williamsburg, Va..

Gallagher-Smith confided in Robinson that she had been unable to become pregnant by her husband, according to the lawsuit. After Gallagher-Smith got pregnant, Robinson said she and her husband promised to handle the situation like "Christian, professional adults."

"Originally just the three of us were going to [handle] it, no press, no lawyers and we we're going to go see a counselor about what was best for the child," Robinson said. Gallagher-Smith and her husband even promised DNA testing, he said, though they later changed their minds and quit taking Robinson's phone calls.

Gallagher-Smith on Friday remained a member of Life Athletes, an organization for professional and Olympic athletes "committed to living lives of virtue, abstinence, and respect for life," according to its Web site. One of the pledges Life Athletes take is to "give myself only to that special person I marry as my partner for life."

Missy Stoddard can be reached at mstoddard@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5505.